Where do you live? How many people live there? Do you feel crowded? These are all questions related to a topic called urban sprawl. Urban sprawl is the process of people moving from urban city like areas to rural areas such as farmland. This is hurting our nation and effecting everyone whether they know it or not. Urban sprawl slowly hurts our world in a variety of ways.
Urban sprawl might not seem like that big of a threat right now but in the near future it is going to leave us with a shortage of natural resources. Every minute America is losing two acres of farmland (Dekalb). This is very bad because our farmland is the driving force that keeps our nation alive. America's farmland provides more than just crops for human and animal consumption. It provides raw materials used to make building materials, paper, medicines, and fuels. Also farmland absorbs rainwater that helps replenish ground water supplies and reduce flooding(Dekalb). .
Farmland in the United States is being developed at an alarming rate. From 1970 to 1990 nineteen million acres of rural land were developed into urban land in the state of Oregon alone(Statesman). Also, from 1970 to 1990 the urban population of the United States decreased by twenty three percent(Statesman). These statistics have many areas of the United States scared and wondering what their future holds for them. .
For example look at Dekalb county Illinois. The lives of many people in this county revolve around farming, and it is slowly being eliminated. Dekalb county is one of three nationally recognized areas that are most in danger of urban sprawl. Between 1990 and 2000 Dekalb county lost 4,794 acres of prime farmland, this was an average of 1.3 acres lost every day(Dekalb). Ninety eight percent of Deaklb county's farmland is rated prime(Dekalb). Prime farmland is a combination of great soil, good topography and an ideal climate. Prime farmland is very hard to come by and yields the highest revenue for producing crops(Dekalb).